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[adversarial]

Yes, they're good in a pinch if you need them and don't have a dedicated healer or said healer is in their cooldown period and can't help. You've got the ability so might as well use it.

My group consists of: 2H, Dual-wielder, Offensive caster, Buff / Debuff / Heals caster.

It has worked out very well so far, this game rules.

I didn't get into Pillars of Eternity as much as I thought I might (absolutely loved old-school BG 1 + 2, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, etc.) but I want to revisit it after I beat the shit out of Tyranny.

 

[Labadal]

How much does he fear you? A healthy amount of fear of me is what keeps him in line.

I even get fear checks.



This is what I did--am still doing?--during my first play-through. It is great.

He has both high fear and loyalty. When he talks to me, though, he talks about following but not agreeing with my actions. But the way I am treating the Disfavored, there is absolutely no reason for him to follow me. It's jarring.

 

[Sanctuary]

He tanks even plot holes.

Incidentally, I just now entered a conversation that discusses this very issue (as well as my own assumption about what someone in his shoes would most likely do...).

You get a companion later on that you can specialize in healing magic. I use him for all my buffs and heals.

Err, he isn't really a specialist in that regard. One would think that upon their first playthrough given what he starts with, but aside from two whole points in the tree, he doesn't really offer much of anything that the player can't do, and do much better for the most part due to the additional bonuses you get along the way with the Leadership tree. Sure, you might want to be focusing your character in other ways earlier, but you'd be missing out on a huge buff to your party overall, up to at least Killing Spree.

Spoiler

Lantry's Sage tree is his best tree if you want him to focus on being a caster (plus, the frost stance is amazing) of any sort, and his Quill tree is the second best

.

Also what's up with magic? So anyone cast any Lore-level-equipable spell regardless of their equipment? Should I give everyone a simple heal or buff? Or is that just a waste of their time?

Depends on how much you want to munchkin it up, and go all out in most fights. The entire party should have Spectral Blur memorized. Don't give your tank a heal, until you can use those that are over time for a duration and a long cooldown. Main reason is because the AI is terrible with them and will stop tanking to rush away to heal someone in the back row. For any ranged characters though, give them all at least the starter heal, and later you can extend the range and healing strength. You'll also want to eventually have everyone memorize a weapon buff. These already start out decently enough, but can get particularly ridiculous mid-late game, especially on a quick hitting character that has multihit attacks (chain explosions that resemble something from Diablo 3 yay!). Set the game to auto pause on traps and enemies spotted. Enemy spotted > buff > destroy.

 

[bati]

(major spoiler)

http://i.imgur.com/BPYvaad.png

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

I honestly didn't expect things to go this far.

 

[Brakke]

You get a companion later on that you can specialize in healing magic. I use him for all my buffs and heals.

Yeah the Sage? With the Quill weapon (which, btw, is a funny & good idea. reminds me of Massive Chalice's jai alai thrower things)? I have him. But I don't have the primary Life Rune or whatever lets me craft heals, so he just has the one super basic one right now plus a couple Vigor buffs I managed to scrape together.

 

[Sinatar]

Just beat it.

Excellent game. Will definitely do a replay some day to see how else things can play out.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Yeah the Sage? With the Quill weapon (which, btw, is a funny & good idea. reminds me of Massive Chalice's jai alai thrower things)? I have him. But I don't have the primary Life Rune or whatever lets me craft heals, so he just has the one super basic one right now plus a couple Vigor buffs I managed to scrape together.

Talk to Lantry for a bit. Trust me.

Spoiler

Talking to him will open up the Healing Rune

 

[Poodlestrike]

Who's a better healer, Eb or Lantry? Lantry has the buffs to his Life spells, but Eb has those combo abilities.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Also what's up with magic? So anyone cast any Lore-level-equipable spell regardless of their equipment? Should I give everyone a simple heal or buff? Or is that just a waste of their time?

Think of the game like an Elder Scrolls game, there is no reason why a warrior can't cast magic short of you just not wanting them to. While they won't be statted to be very effective even just having the option of casting something like the base healing or buff spells with any character can be useful in a pinch.

I gave everyone the basic heal spell, even the "non-magic" characters can still become proficient at it by the endgame with enough practice. If you are going to stack your characters with spells though I recommend turning off their AI; I had some issues with my tank or DPS characters breaking rank to cast unnecessary heals or buffs on my back line several times.

 

[Mudcrab]

Who's a better healer, Eb or Lantry? Lantry has the buffs to his Life spells, but Eb has those combo abilities.

I'd like to know this as well. Just got Eb and some of those Gravelight talents sound rad.

 

[MisterShine]

(major spoiler)

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

...

I really love that moment

Spoiler

If you have a high lore skill, you can interpret one of Kyros' laws to mean that if the mother forswears any fealty or office in the land, the rule of the bloodline is at an end. This means you don't have to kill anyone or piss anyone off.

At first I was disappointed I got an easy-out to the dilemma, but then I thought "Yeah, Kyros fucking loves rules-lawyer bullshit like this" then I liked it a lot.

edit:

Side note: I'd REALLY like to read some thoughts and reflections from people who did a Rebel-faction playthrough. How does that play out through the story/characters? Do you pretend to be loyal to Kyros and just bullshit everyone or do you just straight-up join a rebellion?

 

[Moff]

(major spoiler)

http://i.imgur.com/BPYvaad.png

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

I honestly didn't expect things to go this far.

honestly I don't think they went far enough.
you still fight villains most of the time, it's not that different from the standard RPG
I hope that if there is a sequel they take this a bit further

 

[Sanctuary]

Who's a better healer, Eb or Lantry? Lantry has the buffs to his Life spells, but Eb has those combo abilities.

Eb, simply because she can do something neither you nor Lantry can do. Lantry's healing tree is his third best tree by a huge margin. I mean, Lantry's combo ability is great and all for emergencies, but aside from that, he's no better than anyone else given the same spell slots. Still, he's a better character overall. It's also a lot better to have some offensive ability and not cram all of your spell slots with healing spells. They aren't that great aside from two, three max.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Ok I did my first real "quest" and fought a dude on behalf of the Scarlet Chorus on the outskirts of the place we're sieging. Pelox something. Won the fight but damn I got worked over. I have no clue how to prioritize targets (they had an archer hanging out just SAVAGING me but I wanted to hold aggro on the boss) or when it's worthwhile to take a disengagement strike or if I should trust the AI or micromanage or what.

Might just rush headlong into some battles then reroll my character once I understand this combat system a bit better. I don't play very many of these realtime w/ pausing games.

I'd recommend using one character (like Barik) to tank and hold the engagement of as many enemies as possible with someone focusing on keeping him alive. With them tied up you can then have your DPS characters go from enemy to enemy and blast them down. Focus on the ones who are doing the most damage first (mages, anyone who is good at piercing armor) and go from there. What you don't want to do is focus singularly on the enemy tank (likely someone with a shield), as they probably don't do much damage but will be in your face regardless. I think Verse has a talent that allows her to disengage without taking a hit if you are worried about that, otherwise just weigh the risk of whoever you are fighting. Doing lots of melee damage? Don't disengage without taunting or something first. Low damage? Might be worth it if there is a better target.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Eb, simply because she can do something neither you nor Lantry can do. Lantry's healing tree is his third best tree by a huge margin. I mean, Lantry's combo ability is great and all for emergencies, but aside from that, he's no better than anyone else given the same spell slots. Still, he's a better character overall. It's also a lot better to have some offensive ability and not cram all of your spell slots with healing spells. They aren't that great aside from two, three max.

Okay, wait, are spells you equip multiple times on different times? :O

 

[CloudWolf]

So, either research, forging and leveling are way too slow or I went through this game in the wrong order/too fast. I just finished my first playthrough and I never even got to the final abilities for any of the characters and I managed to forge literally one weapon before I finished the game.

That said, I loved the game and can't wait to start over with a different character and path. I'm also very curious what the future will bring. Please Obsidian and Paradox, release at least one expansion.

(major spoiler)

http://i.imgur.com/BPYvaad.png

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

I honestly didn't expect things to go this far.

When Obsidian goes dark, they go really dark.

honestly I don't think they went far enough.
you still fight villains most of the time, it's not that different from the standard RPG
I hope that if there is a sequel they take this a bit further

Well, they did say 'evil already won', so it makes sense that there are no real 'good guys' to fight.

 

[Vamphuntr]

(major spoiler)

http://i.imgur.com/BPYvaad.png

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

I honestly didn't expect things to go this far.

Like someone said with a high lore skill and or Lantry with you you can bullshit your way through this one.

 

[Uriah]

Do companions have quests in this?

 

[Sanctuary]

Either there's a specific number of buffs you can have on a character, or there are certain buffs that conflict and count as "the same" buff, despite being from different spells or talents (which equals bullshit). The icon will appear on your character's combat UI, but without the timer bar surrounding it, and when you highlight it, you just get a blank [ ] instead of the description. It's also not reflected in the character page UI.

Will of Command (+15% damage for 30s) doesn't want to stack with Surge of Glory (+51% damage for 20s), but both will stack with Seize the Initiative (+20% damage for 30s). Not really a big deal if you're playing three ranged and a tank, but if you have two ranged and two melee, it's rather annoying and it also reduces alpha strike potential.

Should have another 15%. Oh well

 

[Sinatar]

Do companions have quests in this?

Not that I was able to find.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Do companions have quests in this?

Depends on your choices I think. Some will want to come along for certain missions. Like

Spoiler

Barik wants to come when you lift the edict of the storms and Lantry wants to come when you go to the Vellum citadel/archives

 

[Tacitus_]

Finished a law & order campaign. Went pretty well, I think. Other than messing up the... inheritance noted above.

Do companions have quests in this?

The beastwoman wants you to save a packmember of hers. Since I had left her back in base, I only noticed this after I failed the quest. Oops.

 

[jonjonaug]

Do companions have quests in this?

Not really, but certain companions have extra dialogue and stuff on certain quests.

 

[CloudWolf]

Not really, but certain companions have extra dialogue and stuff on certain quests.

There's also the backstory of

Spoiler

Verse and Barik

that you can unlock if you get enough reputation with them.

 

[Register]

My biggest gripe by far are the load times. I'm running it on a SSD too and they can take up to a minute.

 

[Remmy2112]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the earlier Eb vs. Lantry discussions is that while Eb can do things neither you or Lantry can Lantry can likely get the highest Lore value of anyone in the game, due to +30 in Lore from skills and his perk that lets everyone level Lore 20% faster. In my game his Lore value is almost 160 while my main character hasn't even breached 100, though my main character is primarily a tank who tosses buffs before a fight and some healing in it.

Having such a high lore value allows me to get away with some of those really nice spell buffs, like having a massive AoE fireball mark every enemy hit for +20 accuracy against them.

 

[Unai]

My biggest gripe by far are the load times. I'm running it on a SSD too and they can take up to a minute.

Weird. My load times are a matter of minutes.

 

[Vamphuntr]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the earlier Eb vs. Lantry discussions is that while Eb can do things neither you or Lantry can Lantry can likely get the highest Lore value of anyone in the game, due to +30 in Lore from skills and his perk that lets everyone level Lore 20% faster. In my game his Lore value is almost 160 while my main character hasn't even breached 100, though my main character is primarily a tank who tosses buffs before a fight and some healing in it.

Having such a high lore value allows me to get away with some of those really nice spell buffs, like having a massive AoE fireball mark every enemy hit for +20 accuracy against them.

My main character is 100% magic and I have more lore than him.

Anyway beat the game in 22 hours. I was surprised to see how abrupt it ends.

Spoiler

You don't even get to see Kyros and take the war to her? What a let down

I enjoyed the game a lot. I found it better than pillars. Better lore, characters and writing. There is no game like it I ever played. The decisions you have to take are often awful and you feel kind of bad after making them. The new magic system was interesting and I'm glad they are trying their own thing instead of having copies of D&D spells like in pillars.

The really downside to the games are the battles and how rushed the game looks overall. Battles are really repetitive and all play the same. There isn't much creativity to encounters and areas are filled to the brim with repetitive fights. I played on hard with my fatebinder as a 100% magic users and it made the game really easy. Spamming magic makes you level up quickly. My fatebinder is 2-3 levels ahead of the other characters in my group.

I feel content wise they had to cut a lot or rush it out. You don't get to enjoy your last spires as soon as you get them it's almost over already. I never got to explore the bastard city at all except the court which seems like a missed opportunity as it's supposed a huge trade center and the core of the tiers. It also kind of ends really quickly and abruptly. Beating the third act has me wondering if your choices matter that much in the end considering what happens.

 

[mbpm1]

(major spoiler)

http://i.imgur.com/BPYvaad.png

What the fuck Obsidian O_O

I honestly didn't expect things to go this far.

What's great is that this is not even the worst outcome for this scenario

My main character is 100% magic and I have more lore than him.

Anyway beat the game in 22 hours. I was surprised to see how abrupt it ends.

Spoiler

You don't even get to see Kyros and take the war to her? What a let down

I like this. Rome wasn't built in a day,

Spoiler

so why should it fall in one

 

[Sanctuary]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the earlier Eb vs. Lantry discussions is that while Eb can do things neither you or Lantry can Lantry can likely get the highest Lore value of anyone in the game, due to +30 in Lore from skills and his perk that lets everyone level Lore 20% faster. In my game his Lore value is almost 160 while my main character hasn't even breached 100, though my main character is primarily a tank who tosses buffs before a fight and some healing in it.

Having such a high lore value allows me to get away with some of those really nice spell buffs, like having a massive AoE fireball mark every enemy hit for +20 accuracy against them.

I mentioned his Sage tree more than once being his best. I just assumed lore and spell slots would be understood. It's hard to tell how much the lore leveling bonus talent actually matters though, but if you plan on hitting the end of the tree, there's really nothing better to take to fill out requirements.

The really downside to the games are the battles and how rushed the game looks overall. Battles are really repetitive and all play the same. There isn't much creativity to encounters and areas are filled to the brim with repetitive fights. I played on hard with my fatebinder as a 100% magic users and it made the game really easy. Spamming magic makes you level up quickly. My fatebinder is 2-3 levels ahead of the other characters in my group.

Weird. During my initial run, my offensive caster was actually 1-2 levels behind everyone else. But I didn't put much into Quickness, and I also never found the rank 3 cooldown reduction accent, both of which would have probably drastically changed things. Regardless, the downside for me would be the insane loading times. I just can't understand why they are so long, especially with maps that are so small.

edit:

We've determined that there is a Unity issue that was fixed for Pillars of Eternity, but has since regressed to a non-working state in the newer version of Unity we're using for Tyranny. The problem is that the mechanism we're using to load character portrait art (and potentially a few other things) from disk can also be used to download files from servers. Because of this, Unity queries the Windows Proxy Settings for the currently logged-in user prior to deciding that it needs to load the file from disk instead. On some users' machines, the contents of the Windows Network Connections will include entries generated by third-party software such as LogMeIn Hamachi and VMWare. The Windows function that Unity uses to get the Proxy Settings for the user tends to hang for long periods of time if it encounters one of those third-party network connections. It's probably not able to get what it wants and just ends up waiting for a timeout. I suggest looking in Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center to see if there are any network connections added by third-party software. If there are, try disabling them to see if it fixes the problem. Please let us know what you find.

Thanks,
Dan

Someone said that they didn't have any additonal network connections, and decided to just play offline to see what happens. They said it sped up the game immensely.
Just tried it, same loading times. Usually 10 - 20s, but sometimes up to a minute. I really was missing those good old The Witcher days before the Enhanced Edition.

 

[Enduin]

Regardless, the downside for me would be the insane loading times. I just can't understand why they are so long, especially with maps that are so small.

This has baffled me in both PoE and here. I just don't understand why the loading takes so long. Even having the game installed on an SSD doesn't seem to really improve anything.

Is Unity that shitty or did Obsidian do something that just makes for crap loading times?

 

[mbpm1]

I like how fitting it is at the end for you to

Spoiler

win the trial with a Lawbreaker past

 

[Anoregon]

I'm getting the same absurd load times when I first start up a game that I ended up seeing in Pillars. Did there ever end up being a fix for this?

 

[Brakke]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Beat the battle at that little town after crossing the river that the watermancer was flooding (I absolutely cannot hold the names from this game in my head for more than like 3 seconds). Went much smoother than my last fight with a "boss", I managed to control aggro better and focus down enemy DPS. I sort of just let the AI run the party for the first quarter of the battle or so until I figured out where the threats were, then took manual control until the enemy party was down to two people, at which point I felt safe so popped the AI back on.

Met Archon of Song back at the camp and she was reeeaaaaal frosty with me from Conquest voices. She was going to give me a quest (?) but I Lore-resisted her charms and she was Not Impressed by that. I wanted to talk to her as equals but I guess she isn't interested in that lol.

 

[Vamphuntr]

What's great is that this is not even the worst outcome for this scenario



I like this. Rome wasn't built in a day,

Spoiler

so why should it fall in one

I felt it doesn't make much sense with what they were building up to. OVERALL PLOT and ENDING SPOILERS

Spoiler

If you keep sending missives to your mentor he eventually refers a friend that is an expert on edict and Kyros. He spells out quite early to you that you will become an Archon and that is part of Kyros master plan. You become an archon, kill the competitions then you proclaim an edict to keep Kyros away. The end. So the master plan was-

I'm getting the same absurd load times when I first start up a game that I ended up seeing in Pillars. Did there ever end up being a fix for this?

I get this too. Pretty sure the game becomes responsive when this happens as I can't alt tab successfully during the initial loading.

 

[mbpm1]

I felt it doesn't make much sense with what they were building up to. OVERALL PLOT and ENDING SPOILERS

Spoiler

If you keep sending missives to your mentor he eventually refers a friend that is an expert on edict and Kyros. He spells out quite early to you that you will become an Archon and that is part of Kyros master plan. You become an archon, kill the competitions then you proclaim an edict to keep Kyros away. The end. So the master plan was-

Yeah there's more story to be told, but I liked that it didn't go ahead with it just then. Builds up the confrontation more.

Of course I'm assuming there's a second game coming eventually.

 

[Brawndo Addict]

I find myself wishing the Alliance breaking options were more organic. You kind of randomly get the option at the end of Act 1 in a way that feels very gamey and unnatural. Now I'm in Act 2 and it's become a bit of a guessing game in terms of where they decide to give you those options.

I went to the

Spoiler

Burning Library

and got an option to break my alliance almost immediately before really starting the zone/quest. I passed on the option and found its timing a bit suspect narratively; why would you break your cover before exploiting their help to get the thing? Except I never got another option to break the Alliance for the rest of that area/quest. I was forced to follow the quest to completion as a loyal Alliance member.

It made me so mad because I wanted to do the cliched heel-turn after I got the McGuffin, but I was forced to go along with everything. The game literally gave me conversation "choices" with only one possible option, not even the freedom to pick how I said yes.

Really frustrating because you would expect the break options to come at the end of quests and not the beginning. Except then I started my next quest in

Spoiler

Lethian's Crossing

and I've yet to run into an option to break my alliance so I guess that option is going to come at the end of the quest? Or have I locked myself out of breaking the Alliance for the rest of the game because I didn't take the first option offered in Act 2?

 

[Anoregon]

I'm already having a fight that's giving me trouble on normal early on (Matani Sybil), despite playing through Pillars on Hard without much trouble. I have absolutely no real CC, which is an issue. Knockdowns were aplenty early in Pillars, but not so much here.

 

[Bebpo]

Speaking of the ending:

Spoiler

Is there a way to unlock the last 2 edicts? What are they?

Is there a way to find out the backstory of how Ashe/Nerat got their powers from Kyros? Obviously it has to do with the old magic, but was wondering if there was more detail anywhere that I might have missed.

The game does a good job at allowing a sequel if the game sales well. Lots of the world is left unexplained but brought to attention.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I'm already having a fight that's giving me trouble on normal early on (Matani Sybil), despite playing through Pillars on Hard without much trouble. I have absolutely no real CC, which is an issue. Knockdowns were aplenty early in Pillars, but not so much here.

Per encounter and per rest abilities will be your bread and butter for harder battles, especially Verse's. IIRC Verse's Loyalty 3 ability got me through that battle specifically.

And for CC, I guess it depends on what spells you find, but I had enough by the end of Act 1 to get me through anything. Just make sure you buy cores and accents (or w/e) from stores whenever you can. Spell creation is an absolute gamechanger in Tyranny.

 

[jonjonaug]

Speaking of the ending:

Spoiler

Is there a way to unlock the last 2 edicts? What are they?

Is there a way to find out the backstory of how Ashe/Nerat got their powers from Kyros? Obviously it has to do with the old magic, but was wondering if there was more detail anywhere that I might have missed.

The game does a good job at allowing a sequel if the game sales well. Lots of the world is left unexplained but brought to attention.

Spoiler

I think you get the last two from researching them somehow in the Spires, not from quests.

As for Archon powers: One explanation that's offered up for them in the game is that Archons are simply remarkable people who's abilities have entered the realm of legend, meaning in turn that the Archon gains power from people believing in them (Edicts are implied to work the same way, unbroken ones become more powerful over time because people believe them to be powerful). Kyros owns almost the entire known world and can speed this process up through propaganda, and also through nurturing the abilities of an Archon regularly through experimentation/training/etc. This is how Sirin is so incredibly powerful despite her young age. Another interesting thing brought up is that magic in the world of Tyranny is basically an imitation of an Archon's power, and that particular magics did not even exist until an Archon representing them came into being. Basically belief=power in the setting, which is why the Overlord is so secretive about their true nature to the point of removing memories of their subordinates. You aren't being screwed with when Archons go back and forth between "he" and "she" when talking about Kyros, they literally don't know. Speculation and fear of an Overlord that no one knows anything about helps Kyros maintain their power, because everyone thinks the Overlord can be or do anything.

With Ashe, it's kind of explained that he was originally simply a very successful general whose incredible reputation may have led to his powers. Nerat implies that something similar may have happened to him if you kill him personally and let him talk.

 

[Sinatar]

Speaking of the ending:

Spoiler

Is there a way to unlock the last 2 edicts? What are they?

Spoiler

I unlocked one of them through researching in the spire library. No idea where you find the 5th though.

 

[JC Sera]

Spoiler

I unlocked one of them through researching in the spire library. No idea where you find the 5th though.

I unlocked the

Spoiler

eternal night one

in

Spoiler

Act 3 of the anarchy arc, Bleden gives it to you

what is the one you get through researching?

 

[CloudWolf]

Speaking of the ending:

Spoiler

Is there a way to unlock the last 2 edicts? What are they?

Is there a way to find out the backstory of how Ashe/Nerat got their powers from Kyros? Obviously it has to do with the old magic, but was wondering if there was more detail anywhere that I might have missed.

The game does a good job at allowing a sequel if the game sales well. Lots of the world is left unexplained but brought to attention.

Spoiler

I think Ashe is like Sirin, just born with extraordinary powers. Nerat is more interesting though, since it's hinted through his dialogue that he kinda made himself like this to be able to survive under Kyros. If you ask him about his past he goes on this long soliloquy about how he wasn't always like this. Though that might also be one of the souls he's eaten.

 

[Bebpo]

Spoiler

I think Ashe is like Sirin, just born with extraordinary powers. Nerat is more interesting though, since it's hinted through his dialogue that he kinda made himself like this to be able to survive under Kyros. If you ask him about his past he goes on this long soliloquy about how he wasn't always like this. Though that might also be one of the souls he's eaten.

Nah, they make it clear Ashe was just a kickass general with no special powers

Spoiler

leading the rebel army against Kyrios in the North until he lost and bent the knee

before he came to be under the command of Kyrios as an Archon. There's a line in there about how before they were Archons both Ashe and Nerat were just normal people and were born entirely normal. They "became" Archons through some secret method they will not discuss with anyone.

I mean, I know I'm asking the question, but I feel like the obvious simplest explanation is probably the right one here for Ashe & Nerat:

Spoiler

When they came to work under Kyrios command he bestowed them special powers using the oldwall magic. They won't discuss it with anyone because it's forbidden by the overlord since the overlord doesn't want people to know about the oldwall magic. I doubt Ashe/Nerat found the power themselves because they would have used it against Kyrios. I think Kyrios used the edict type power on both of them.

 

[CloudWolf]

I felt it doesn't make much sense with what they were building up to. OVERALL PLOT and ENDING SPOILERS

Spoiler

If you keep sending missives to your mentor he eventually refers a friend that is an expert on edict and Kyros. He spells out quite early to you that you will become an Archon and that is part of Kyros master plan. You become an archon, kill the competitions then you proclaim an edict to keep Kyros away. The end. So the master plan was-

.

Spoiler

Someone on Reddit made a cool analysis basically saying that everything was part of the Master Plan. First, he sent two armies who were known to be troublemakers to the Tiers. Then Kyros intentionally sent you out to go there on the assumption that you would open up the Spires and get those powers. Then he sprung his "last one standing" game for the Archons.
The survivor would then feel betrayed and have a big chance of openly rebelling and giving the rest of the realm a common enemy to fight against. Thus prolonging the eternal war and making his realm more staple because he eliminated the troublesome Archons and by giving a common enemy he makes sure nobody else starts thinking about rebelling.

The game even contains hints to this happening in the past, since the main spits shows you people using the Spires in past times, yet no one in the world recalls anyone ever using Spires and Edicts other than Kyros.

Also, Kyros' empire is vast. Yet for some reason the army of Plagueborn (which he/she hasn't used in ages) is right at the border of the tiers in the ending. So either the entire army teleported there or Kyros already had the army on stand-by right outside the Bastard Tier.

 

[Magitex]

I'm getting the same absurd load times when I first start up a game that I ended up seeing in Pillars. Did there ever end up being a fix for this?

Obsidian said something about Unity trying to access network adapters while accessing it's own assets and failing if you have VMware or virtual network adapters, disabling it should fix loading time issues. I have no idea why this is actually a thing.

 

[GRaider81]

Im only in act 2 and beginning to struggle with fights.

My Main is an archer mage, im using Barik and cant decide who else to take between Kills, Eb and Verse.

Any advice on party composition?

 

[Sanctuary]

Per encounter and per rest abilities will be your bread and butter for harder battles, especially Verse's. IIRC Verse's Loyalty 3 ability got me through that battle specifically.

And for CC, I guess it depends on what spells you find, but I had enough by the end of Act 1 to get me through anything. Just make sure you buy cores and accents (or w/e) from stores whenever you can. Spell creation is an absolute gamechanger in Tyranny.

Speaking of buying cores; sorry if this was already mentioned, but when you create a character, specially if it's a caster, don't pick any of the starting cores, unless it's Atrophy. Atrophy is the only core you cannot find relatively early in Act 1 that I know of, and picking two different cores actually costs you one talent. Pick the same core twice and they will give you a talent from the Magic tree as well. If you pick two different cores, you don't get that talent. This is the difference of an entire level when you're crawling up the Magic tree.

This is something I wish I had known at the start of the game, but who is really thinking about picking the same ability twice?

Im only in act 2 and beginning to struggle with fights.

My Main is an archer mage, im using Barik and cant decide who else to take between Kills, Eb and Verse.

Any advice on party composition?

What difficulty? FWIW, I'm using an Archer "Mage" (mostly just using spells to buff now though) and Verse. I already finished the game once though (PC/Lantry/Eb/Barik) so using Verse as melee was pretty easy since I already knew what to expect and how to build my main character around the group earlier. In my first playthrough I actually missed out on a section of the game that had a huge amount of ridiculously great caster accents, so it kind of skewed my perspective of taking three caster types quite a bit. Anyway, if you happened to end up in the area that I'm talking about, two offensive casters (three with your Archer) are probably the strongest bet, although you also need to have a relatively high Lore. Dunno how good Kills-In-Shadows is, but she seems like she might have more options than Verse to build a sturdy front liner, and isn't just entirely focused on nothing but damage.

 

[Dandy Lyin]

Speaking of buying cores; sorry if this was already mentioned, but when you create a character, specially if it's a caster, don't pick any of the starting cores, unless it's Atrophy. Atrophy is the only core you cannot find relatively early in Act 1 that I know of, and picking two different cores actually costs you one talent. Pick the same core twice and they will give you a talent from the Magic tree as well. If you pick two different cores, you don't get that talent. This is the difference of an entire level when you're crawling up the Magic tree.

This is something I wish I had known at the start of the game, but who is really thinking about picking the same ability twice?

The Atrophy core can be found pretty early on. It's in the

Spoiler

Echocall Crossing map

, I believe.

Spoiler

As soon as you zone in, move left and you'll find it in a hidden rock.